Hey people, have managed to find Omega Centaurii and taken some shots but when I try and find Centaurus A ? nada
I use Stellarium initially then Autostar-
one puts me nearby, the other on the Northern horizon.
My star atlas says its pretty near Omega but I haven't got the experience to find the nearby stars then hone in. Any tips?
I was using both a Meade fork mounted 8" SCt and then an equatorial mounted 80mm refractor.
The star atlas implies that it is North by about 5-10 degrees. Am I reading these things wrong? I know from recent experience (coming from the UK I would have never seen Eta C with the naked eye, now on a cloudless night I think I can now pick it out ) that once you spot things they are ingrained in the eye, I now can spot Omega after about a minute of binocular vision then line the scope up). Should I be able to pick it up in 9x 47 bins then align with a bintel 8 x 30 mm finderscope?
Place me in the right direction..thanks
Graham
My method for finding Cent A is as follows. Find Omega Cent by following a line from Hadar through Epsilon Cent. Should be easy to pick it in your finder. Continuing on this same line just over 1 finder field away from Omega, you will see a group of stars clearly in your finder. I see it as 2 groups, the group on the proceeding side making a shallow V shape pointing to following directio and a following group slightly to the South.
Use your lowest power EP to scan area just to North and following this second group and you should pick it up.
While in the area have a crack at NGC 4945 and NGC 5011.
If you're observing from suburban skies you might not have much luck. I didn't find Centaurus A until I was under a sufficiently dark sky. It is quite faint in an 8"and took me some time to find on my first go.
If your sky is good & dark, you should be able to pick out Centaurus A in your 30mm finder, just. I'm not just saying this, I've seen it in a 30mm finder myself.
You'll also be able to make out M104, the Sombrero galaxy, and M83 galaxies in your 30mm finder too. These two can be seen in good binos, like your 47mm, from suburban skies if the light pollution isn't extreme. Again, this is from experience from my home in Sydney.
HOWEVER, this I achieved last year from Sydney's east, and one year down the track, I haven't been able to repeat this things have got so bad, . One year! In Hobart, you'll have no problem
I could not see it from my home location with a 12"SCT even though I was pointing straight at it. I went to a dark location and had no problem locating and viewing it with an ETX125. So if you have light pollution it may be very difficult to locate let alone see.
took me forever to find it in suburban sydney as well, and when i did it could just be made out in an 8" dob (similar maybe to a faint glob which was split).
took slightly less time to find the sombrero.
the trick in finding them for me, was finding star hopping guides that matched the level of visibility where we were.
Hi Graham
I still remember it took me ages and many frustrations to locate Cen.A in my 8" dob. Its much fainter than I thought under suburban Sydney sky.
Vincent
As others have said I start at Hadar (Beta Centaurus) and star hop to Epsilon Centaurus, then its equal distance straight line hops to Omega centaurus and Cent. A. See the chart attached that I took off Starry Night, south is down and the chart is for current 9:00pm.
I am in a semi rual area with reasonably dark skies and Cent. A is visable in the 9X50 finder scope.
Hope this helps.
Hi Graham, its in an easy patch of the sky but you can't find it because as others have said, its a pretty faint object. Its nowhere as obvious like Omega Cent, plus its quite an extended object so low power is needed. Many years ago, using my 8 inch Meade SCT & my friends 8 inch Newt side by side from suburban skies, Cent A was visible with help using averted vision in the Newt, BUT we couldn't see it at all in the SCT - probably because it was on the "edge of visibility" from our location/seeing conditions plus add in the loss of contrast due to the SCT's larger central obstruction.
Having said that, nowadays, when skies are dark from suburban Camberwell, Melbourne, I can readily pick out Cent A and its dark central bar using my 4 and 5 inch refractors. Unfortunately I no longer have the 8 inch SCT anymore, so I can't compare, but I should also admit that I am a more careful and experienced observer than before. The bottom line is, you need low power and dark skies for the best chance of seeing it. Binoculars, 7 x 50mm, I've found are also a great way to place it.
PS: I'm not trying to criticise the SCT, its fantastic with Omega (and planets) with the right eyepieces and conditions!
This is why everyone needs to convert to Video Astronomy.
It is easily visible even with Full Moon and heavy light pollution 'Live' via Astro Video cameras
My word, I found it, isn't it a beauty. Clouds went for a night down here under down under and I scoped till my eyes bled.
I hope to add some shonky beginner pictures!...
Once again I thank ye.
Thanks Mr BDragons, my first ever galaxy! I had to go inside and ask my wife to shake my hand. She already thinks I am nuts! It's a great feeling bagging the first one. I took some pics in JPEG and in Raw and in anticipation I also took some darks. So now all I have to do is learn how to put it all together!
It's almost spiritual, the feeling of gazing into another galaxy.
Its a great feeling finding your 1st galaxy & Centaurus A was my 1st (took me about 30 mins of constant swapping from eyeball to eyepeice) back in March. I then went hunting for M104 later in the evening/ morning but it took a "little" bit longer but persistance paid off.
I have since found another half dozen or so & the thrill is the same for each one.
Quite often the objects are barely visable, however its the understanding & appreciation of just what it is you are looking at.
I took my scope down to a mates place several weeks ago & he spent the 1st 30 minutes just looking at Saturn. When he finally agreed to let me point the scope at the list of usual suspects, Orion Neb, Eta Carine, Omega Cen etc, he was gob smacked. Same reaction as me & now he's hooked.
. One year! In Hobart, you'll have no problem
